1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to waders and, in particular, to a wader having a leg insulator capable of being removed while a user is wearing the wader.
2. Related Art
Waders are typically used to enable fishermen, hunters, and the like to wade through water, such as streams or rivers, for example. A wader is a garment that is worn around a user""s feet and legs. Many waders also cover the user""s waist and a portion of the user""s chest. Waders are typically comprised of waterproof material and isolate the user from surrounding water in order to keep the user dry as he or she wades through the water.
Although waders provide some thermal insulation, user""s typically must wear additional garments in order to stay warm especially during early morning hours before or just after the Sun has risen. However, as the Sun rises and begins to warm the environment, a user may desire to shed some of the garments being worn for thermal insulation. In order to shed such garments, the user typically must shed his or her wader first. After removing one or more garments, the user may again don the wader and continue his or her activities. Unfortunately, waders are relatively burdensome to remove and don. Thus, a user often must choose between enduring uncomfortable temperatures or enduring the burdens of removing and donning the wader that he or she is wearing.
The present invention overcomes the inadequacies and deficiencies of the prior art as discussed hereinbefore. Generally, the present invention provides a wader that enables a user to easily and conveniently change the amount of thermal insulation provided to his or her legs.
A wader in accordance with the present invention includes a wader leg and a leg insulator. The leg insulator is placed in contact with the wader leg and provides thermal insulation for a user""s leg when the user is wearing the wader. However, the leg insulator can be easily and conveniently removed from the wader leg while the user""s leg is positioned within the wader leg. Therefore, it is not necessary for the user to remove the wader in order to reduce the amount of thermal insulation provided to his or her leg.
The present invention can also be viewed as providing a method for enabling a user to easily and conveniently change the amount of thermal insulation provided to his or her legs. The method can be broadly conceptualized by the following steps: providing a wader, the wader having a wader leg; contacting the wader with a leg insulator; inserting a user""s leg into the wader leg; positioning the leg insulator such that the leg insulator thermally insulates the user""s leg when the user""s leg is inserted into the wader leg; and removing the leg insulator from the wader leg while the user""s leg is inserted into the wader leg.
Various features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to one skilled in the art upon examination of the following detailed description, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It is intended that all such features and advantages be included herein within the scope of the present invention and protected by the claims.